5 times Haymitch saw Effie drunk
by LadyPalma
Summary: It had been a year since the Rebellion and somehow Haymitch is not the only drunkard around. It will take a while for him to realize that Effie has a problem with alcohol... Will he be able to help?
1. Chapter 1

**5 times Haymitch saw Effie drunk**

**1.**

Haymitch Abernathy guzzled down in a single sip what was left in his glass and with a confused greeting to Plutarch, headed without any ceremonies, slightly stumbling, to the table of the drinks. He hated the parties since his own Victory Tour and the fact that this one was taking place in District 12 and that had as occasion the celebration of a year since the Rebellion, didn't change so much the matter. He was still the same insufferable lonely drunkard after all, and, if hadn't been for Peeta's persistence, he would have never put a foot in that room.

A bitter laugh escaped his lips at that sudden thought, while he begun to look for the bottle of wine he had inaugurated just a few minutes before, but an expression of pure surprise formed on his face when, after having smelt with little elegance the different bottles, that one in particular seemed to be missing.

"Where the hell is my wine?" he complained aloud, anyway not so loudly to cover the noise of the music.

He kept on mumbling to himself for a while, forced to fall back on a strange liquor with a less pleasant taste. When finally he took some steps away from the table and looked up to try to see Katniss and Peeta, who were in charge to walk him back home, among the crowd, he suddenly found the solution to the mysterious disappearance of the bottle in front of him. At some meters from where he stood, but in an almost hidden position, there was a woman sitting alone and pouring in a glass the precious wine.

The ex mentor inspected her for some moments, even if his eyes were more focused on the quick moves she made to fill and empty in an almost compulsive way the glass. She looked familiar and also terribly tipsy.

"Manners…" he commented ironically, letting his mind recall for a moment the shrill voice of the hated (and perhaps at the same time loved) escort of his district during the times still too recent of the Hunger Games.

It had been a while since the last time he had heard that voice and he had to admit that in some moments he missed it. He shook his head, refusing to fall into one of those moments right then, and took a long sip of liquor, continuing to look for his victors, or better his _nannies_.

Eventually, he saw them showing up among the couples of dancers and leaving the dance floor to approach him.

"Let's go away, old drunkard" Katniss addressed him letting herself escape an annoyed sigh at the sight of the man's predictable state.

It must have been hard for her: she had lived among the flames of Hell, and she was still living among his ashes pretending to be happy. That evening she would have liked to be anywhere but there, he knew and understood that: that's why, despite the instability of his intellect, he didn't get annoyed for her comment and instead welcomed it with an amused laugh.

"Drunkard, you say? Look at that woman over there…" he answered, pointing at her with a finger "Aah, if Effie were here she would say that… I don't know what she would say, but she would say something, the princess would _always_ have something to say"

He didn't know how that happened but he ended up talking about her; the thing didn't surprise him too much truth be told: his mind must have eliminated any kind of filter, turning the thoughts in words straight away. Anyway, that unwilling joke didn't have the hoped effect and instead of a smile, the two kids exchanged an uncomfortable and worried look.

"What the hell is happening?" the man asked then confused, bringing again the liquor to his lips.

It was that gesture to awake the two victors from the eloquent silence they took shelter in. Katniss was the first to act, approaching him slowly and taking the glass away from him with caution, but it was Peeta to grab his arm firmly and yet gently and lead him towards the exit.

"So, what happened before?"

The same look passed between the two who refused to answer again and Haymitch didn't press the matter forward.

He was too drunk to realize that the woman on her way for a colossal binge was none other than Effie Trinket.

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**Hello! This is my first fanfic for this fandom, it's Hayffie and it is set a year after Mockinjay. There will be - as the title says - 5 parts, from the next you will se more of Effie and you will understand how much she has changed... Hope you liked this first chapter, let me know what you think!**

**See you soon,**

**LadyPalma**


	2. Chapter 2

**2.**

She was back to be the same and yet she had changed. That's what Haymitch had thought when he finally saw Effie again; the last time he had left her a little more than a year before, after the rebels' success, on a train heading to Capitol City and they had kept in touch only with some letters and some short phone calls. Seeing her now made a strange effect on him, an effect that he couldn't eliminate even with alcohol.: that day was Katniss and Peeta's wedding and he had promised the kids, almost as a wedding gift, not to overdo.

She had changed, indeed she had, he kept thinking for the next five minutes during which he couldn't be able to keep his eyes off of her: her hair, the real one, was falling in blonde curls on the shoulder, framing a face only veiled and not masked by make-up; while the dress that covered those scars he knew too well she had, was refined but not eccentric. She was giving some arrangements, puffing and sighing every now and then. Thanks to Plutarch she had become reporter for Panem now and it was for that reason, apart from being a dear friend, that she was now joining the event; anyway she didn't seem to like the thing very much and the man had the confirmation of that when he saw her crossing the whole room, heading right to his direction.

But she wasn't aiming at him, only at his glass.

" Ehi ehi, slow down sweetheart! That wasn't water!" he exclaimed after some moments of surprise, watching her empty the entire glass and putting it again on the table.

"I know, haymitch… Honestly I didn't expect anything different from you!" she replied with a sigh, bringing one hand to the forehand.

She hadn't looked at him yet and the tone she had used was colder than she had wanted. Haymitch just raised a eyebrow, never looking away at the contrary; he hadn't imagined their first conversation to go that way and the fact somehow was annoying him. Perhaps she realized that because when she finally met his eyes, an apologetic smile formed on her lips.

"I'm sorry… The shots, the interviews… It's too much for me right now. I'd like to just celebrate the kids' happiness and…"

"It's alright, Effie" he interrupted in an unusually gentle tone and almost without realizing it, he had taken her hand in his.

It was the woman's turn to be surprised, widening her eyes and moving them between the man's Haymitch's face and their joined hands. That sudden intimate contact was taking her unprepared and was cause of awkwardness, as the blush on the cheeks confirmed.

"Haymitch…" she simply whispered almost as a plea. But plea of what, to leave her alone and retract his hand or maybe to kept on holding it and never let her go?

The former mentor interpreted his way that silent invitation and suddenly broke the contact, using his now free hand to take the glass back and filling it up. He cleared his voice, feeling now himself the weight of embarrassment and for some minutes that was the only sound to break he strange silence between them. Minutes that were enough for Effie to get hold of another glass and fill it too. He wasn't holding her hand anymore, but his gray eyes had never left her yet.

"You are changed…" he murmured eventually with a slight hesitation filtering through his voice "But you are fine… Without all that crap… I mean, you are beautiful. Really beautiful"

The woman at those words focused her attention again on his ex colleague and a new wonder was on her face, unprepared at all to receive compliments from him. She didn't answer, but gave him a sincere and a bit amused smile. She was pleasantly shocked: the fact that she was blushing and that she raised her hand up in air toward him suggested that.

But it never reached him, instead it ended to grab the glass.

They separated in silence after a while, but he continued to follow her with his eyes from afar, until after half a hour she appeared more tipsy than he had imagined and she was obliged to leave the buffet in advance.

Yes, Effie Trinket had changed and he still couldn't tell how much yet.

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**Here is 2 part! I'd really appreciate reviews ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**3.**

The last thing Haymitch would have expected that night was to hear knocking on his door. Who could it be? The kids had left for a sort of short honeymoon in Distric Four and no one else really cared to pay attention to the alcoholic victor of District 12. No one else, expect for Effie Trinket. His lips unavoidably curved into a half smile when he found her in front of him, with her new more natural look and a slightly embarassed look. He remained to stare at her for a while, before moving aside in order to let her in. He didn't know if to be more surprised by the visit itself or by the fact that she had a bottle of whiskey in her hands.

"It's bad manners to show up at someone's door without a relished present…" she started, while entering the house and handing him the drink, as if she had to explain that unusual move.

"And I bet it would be bad manners to keep it all for me, wouldn't it, _Princess_?"

Effie slightly chuckled - maybe for the joke or maybe for the affectionate nickname – and just nodded. Then, she followed him on the sofa, not hesitating too much before accepting the glass he soon offered her.

It wasn't a casual visit, as she let him know after taking some sips of whiskey: she wanted to inform him of her transfer for work reasons in Twelve. That news proved to be the real surprise for Haymitch, who found himself staring again at her, blinking a few times out of incredulity. Effie leaving the Capitol for Twelve? He honestly didn't know what to think about it and the astonishment was maybe so much that he didn't even realize that his hand had suddenly stopped while filling the second glass, letting the drink overflow.

"Haymitch, be careful!" she quickly reproached him, picking a napkin and starting to dry.

The owner ignored completely that little accident and, placing slowly what was left of the bottle on the table, allowed himself some moments to fully understand the news.

"We should make a toast then…" he said eventually, hinting a smile.

Effie smiled as well and answered at that invitation by raising her own glass and making it approach his one. However, their glasses never touched and it was their lips to clash together instead. It was Haymitch the one to close the distance, giving into a desire he had always been able to tame until that moment. Maybe he had made a mistake, or better, he had _surely_ made a mistake,since she had remained completely still and wasn't kissing him back at all.

As soon as he realized the lack of response, he immediately broke the contact and didn't dare to look at her. He didn't know what to say, he couldn't have even used the excuse of alcohol this time; he just knew that suddenly a feeling between pain and self-pity was born in him at that clear rejection. At that point, he expected her to be upset, angry, ready to leave his house… But instead, the Capitol Princess surprised him once again. Without saying a word, she just emptied her glass and if she were moving, it was only to take the bottle, which was already almost empty.

They finished it and then opened another one. This time of wine, this time taken from Haymitch's personal stockpile.

Against any prediction, it was her the one to kiss him, probably because she was finally enough confused to do that. In front of that pleasant first step, he decided to repress the thousands ironic wisewrecks that popped into his mind and just enjoy that simple, human, warm contact he was having after so long. So, he deepened the kiss and chose to also ignore the worry he felt seeing his former escort in that condition.

That night he preferred to think that Effie had just decided to finally _loosen her corset and have a drink_.

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**Hello! I know it's been almost a year since my last update, but I don't like to leave things unfinished and so, here it is part 3. I hope you're still interested in reading this short fic, hopefully the last two parts will arrive soon!;)**


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